Winter break is fast approaching, and we are trying to wrap up some units. That means we'll be having a few tests next week. I've sent home with your children outlines of what we'll be looking at assessing. This outline was developed with the kids. We discussed our topics and what we had covered. We discussed what would be fair for me to assess and what that assessment should look like. So, we'll be having some assessments in literacy, science, and math. In Math, we are working on a number of things and we're trying to bring them all together. We're combining our knowledge of arithmetic with the development of our understanding of word problems. This coming week, we'll be using the computers to type out good copies of our math test challenge (each child is making their own math test, and we'll administer it to our partner class, room 17, as time allows).

For a better idea of what we're doing in math and our approach, please take a look at this site: Youcubed.

In literacy, we'll be wrapping up our classroom read-aloud in probably a couple of weeks. After that, we'll begin a project using Google slides to tackle some of the issues we've been reading about in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. We won't really dig into that, however, until January. We also continue to combine our writing and reading with as many other subjects as we can, from writing interesting math word problems to reading information about Peru and writing convincing arguments about questions posed.

In science, we'll be starting our rocks and minerals unit fairly soon. Right now, we're wrapping up our eco-column. Many of our mealworms have moved on to another plane of existence. We took the opportunity to dissect one. It was a fun and interesting activity. Our plants started off with a bang, but are now stagnating in their growth. Some are starting to fail. This has been a fun experiment and the children have truly enjoyed it.

In social studies, we have begun to examine information about quality of life in Peru. We are learning how access to services, as well as a well developed infrastructure (or lack thereof) can affect quality of life, even within a single city. We've been focusing on the discrepancies within the city of Lima, where some neighbourhoods have water, electricity, and paved roads, while others lack all of these.

Tune in next week for more pictures and videos! Sorry for this week's dearth. Technical difficulties :).

Hello all.

We had another great week full of learning. It was great meeting so many of you at the student-led conferences. Thank you for making the time to come and see what your child is doing all day!

In math, we continue with arithmetic. We add in subtraction this coming week. We're taking it slowly as many students are still trying to grasp the idea of place value and how it relates to regrouping when using different algorithms. We use various manipulatives/objects to help us visualize place value, including base-10 blocks, ten frames, drawings, etc.

We're evolving our understanding of math to go beyond the set ways of thinking (x + y = Z) to seeing math as integral to life, and in fact present in our everyday activities. We'll be starting a project this week that centers on creating a budget for a new pet. This will involve lots of addition and subtraction, as well as critical thinking. It should be fun!

If you want to play some math games with your kids and help them build their number sense, try something like this:

Have your child tell you as many ways as they can how each number DOES NOT belong. For example, in the above example how could they explain why the 17 doesn't belong but the other three do? Then cycle through how each other number does not belong and what the remaining numbers have in common. This will help them think about patterns, relationships, prime, odd, even numbers, etc. They'll probably see patterns you didn't even notice!

In social studies, we are still wandering through the mountains and forests of Peru. Mrs. Wilson had the students work in small groups to create semi-topgraphical maps of Peru using clay. The kids loved it and were quite creative.

We also created guidebooks for time travelers who might wish to visit the Inca in Peru. Our students warned of unsolicited brain surgeries, the dangers of theft in Inca times, and the annoyance of working 7-days a week and paying taxes!

We also practiced a bit of our burgeoning art skills by taking another crack at drawing toucans, this time using pastels. The results were pretty good, I think! I especially like the blending on the beak of the one toucan.

In science, we will be having a test in 2 weeks (first week of December). The test will cover some of the animals and insects we have been learning about, focusing on their adaptations, life-cycles, and the vocabulary we have been learning (ecosystem, taxonomy, pupa, thorax, etc.)

Hello all. In math, we worked on addition. This week, we focused on our understanding of the algorithms and our number sense. We did so with 2 projects. In the first, I asked each student to create a test for the class next door. We discussed what types of questions we should ask, as well as how we should ask them in order to really test the understanding of the test takers. We looked at what the Program of Studies says we should know, as well. Once we decided what types of questions we should ask, I had each student create their own test. Of course, in order to do so they also had to create an answer key. The students were very engaged in this activity, and it really tested their own understanding as they had to both create the questions and answer them, too. We also had a small test. For some of the questions, I left out certain numbers in the addends and the sum. This really tested well whether the students understood both how to perform the standard algorithm, as well as their number sense as they had to visualize patterns, number relations, and place value. Below are some examples of their thinking.

I also gave them questions that were not lined up as expected. This proved challenging for a number of students, so we will continue working on this. It is important for students to be comfortable with seeing math in unexpected ways. Such a comfort with numbers is a good sign of their developing number sense.

We had our big trip to TELUS Spark this week. We all had a fantastic time exploring the center. In our math/dance session the students had a great time moving their bodies while also thinking mathematically.

In science, we continue to track the growth of our plants and vegetables, as well as the life cycle of our mealworms. We have at least one pupa now, and we hope to see it emerge as a darkling beetle soon.

In social studies, we are still in Peru, studying the culture of the Incans. This week we focused on what we know about daily life in Incan society. We also took some video tours of Machu Picchu. We also continue to work on our Field Guide, to which we will soon be adding a variety of insects, plants, mammals, reptiles, and fish to round out our study of plant and animal life cycles. This, as mentioned, will be an ongoing process with the students taking more and more responsibility for researching the content of their guide and organizing their information appropriately. Remember, this coming week are our student-led conferences. You should have received an email telling you how to book a time. Please do so. I would love to meet those parents and guardians I've not yet met and discuss your child's work and successes!

Hello. We had our Remembrance Day assembly today. Over the week, we talked about what Remembrance Day is and why and how we honour it. Students designed poppies and we made a wreath with them to present at the assembly. The students were very respectful and the assembly was a great success.

 This week we had a math quiz. The point of the quiz was to give me an idea of their understanding of the algorithms for addition as well as their number sense. Please ask your child how they did, or send me an email if they don't remember :). Today we ended the week working on estimating, a real-life skill and a very important element in math. We worked on how to decide what units we should use in our estimating, how to use information we already know to help us, and how to actually go about estimating a variety of things. We will be doing these estimation tasks at least once a week, along with our daily number talks. These will compliment our daily math classes. In science we planted our seeds. Many students have already seen growth. We will be tracking these changes to our eco-columns, as well as hoping for some of our darkling beetles (mealworms) to enter the pupal stage of their development. I've yet to hear back from NASA, but the Canadian Space Agency did email me, and we hope to receive some materials from them soon. In language arts, students are reading their novels regularly. I've switched a few students around to better accommodate their reading levels and interests. We continue to use Reading Powers as our guide for building our comprehension.

In social studies/science/writing, the students began to use their toucan page as a template for creating new pages. This week we gave them information on the Andean condor. Students had to disseminate the information, deciding what was important for their field guide. They then had to decide which section their information belonged in, description, life-cycle, or adaptations. Finally, they had to take the general points they had gathered and turn them into clear, creative, and interesting sentences that would hook readers as well as inform them.

We also constructed a kind of topographical map of Peru using clay. We chose different colours for Peru's different regions, and tried to show geographical differences, such as for the Andes.

Finally, I am still missing a few permission slips for the TELUS Spark field trip. Please send them in ASAP. Thanks!

Hello. Probably the biggest event of the week was Friday's championship flag-football game. The entire school came out to watch the Calgary Dinos take on the Mount Royal University Cougars. The Cougars prevailed in an action-packed, back-and-forth match. It was awesome!

In science this week we built our eco-columns. We had four environmental disasters where eco-columns were knocked over, but we quickly cleaned up and got them back in place. Because of the disasters, I'm afraid I forgot to get some video! I'll have some for next week. Anyway, our mealworms are now happily in their new homes along with red-wiggler worms, and we'll begin to collect data and document our project starting Monday. After building, our groups brainstormed what kinds of data they wanted to collect, what questions they wanted to ask and answer, and how they could go about it. We'll be measuring temperature using a digital infrared temperature gun. We will measure plant growth. We will study the life-cycle of our mealworms. We will examine the water cycle, among other things. We'll investigate the best ways to present our data, including graphing. We'll collect everything and make a final report.

In math we continue to work on arithmetic. As we master the algorithms, we'll continue to build our number sense and mathematical vocabulary. Word problems are a notoriously challenging area for many students. We'll begin this week with numberless word problems and build slowly from their, increasing our ability to think mathematically and to develop our ability to 'see' mathematics. Many students are able to perform pure calculations using algorithms (342 + 234, for example), but struggle to determine what exactly is being asked of them in a word problem. Numberless word problems are a great way to start introducing them to thinking about math in 'real world' applications. Take a look at this link to learn more: numberless word problems

In language arts, we worked on some creative writing, using a visual prompt from the great book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. We chose a creepy, Halloween themed picture, and the students had to use their imaginations to write a story based on it. It was a great success, and many of our students have taken their stories home to continue working on them. In this task, we were thinking about pacing, plot, grammar, spelling (how to use a dictionary), character, among other things.

We also continued our work on our Field Guide to the Birds of Peru. One of our goals is to practice writing, both for content but also legibility. Some of our students have come quite far in a short time. Below is one student who has progressed extremely well in his legibility and neatness. He was very proud of himself!

As you may know, every Friday the students participate in our Try Something New project. I am running a Lego Robot session where students build and then learn to program their robots. Today our first robots were completed, and programming began. Some Room 16 students are in this group, but most are in other groups. Ask your student what they are doing in their group!

This coming week, we'll be working with Room 17 to create a classroom wreath to present during our Remembrance Day assembly. We'll do some lessons on why we remember, what we're remembering, and examine some of the different roles Canadians have played in war.

The field trip forms for our TELUS Spark trip went home this week. Please ensure your child returns the signed copy to school as soon as possible. Relatedly, we are still looking for some volunteers to our upcoming field trip to Crowfoot Library. If you're interested, please contact me for more details.